Amanda Knox Should Be Tried Again for Murder, Prosecution Argues

Kevin Casey/AFP/Getty Images(ROME) — A battery of lawyers argued before Italy’s supreme court on Monday that an appeals court was wrong to overturn Amanda Knox’s murder conviction and set her free.

Knox, who remained home in Seattle, was “anxious” about the hearing, which could reject the prosecution’s argument and end the six-year ordeal, or order a new trial. When the ruling comes down, Knox will be notified by her lawyers.

Knox, now 25, spent four years in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of her English roommate Meredith Kercher. She was freed in 2011 when she and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito had their convictions overturned.

Prosecutors in Knox’s supreme court hearing on Monday argued that the judges who set Knox free had “lost their direction.” They argued that “some elements were not taken into account,” insinuating that the appeal decision to acquit was wrong because not all evidence was considered.

Prosecutors argued that the independent review of key DNA during the appeal — which blasted the prosecution’s case and proved a turning point for Knox — “was used like a final word” and covered up all other evidence.

Each party is permitted 20 minutes to speak, but the prosecutor went on for an hour. After 35 minutes, the judge chided him and asked him to “hurry up.”

The prosecutor’s arguments were supported by a lawyer representing the Kercher family and a lawyer for Patrick Lumumba, Knox’s former boss who sued her for defamation. They all argued that Knox and Sollecito were wrongfully set free and should be tried again for murder.

Despite the ruling, prosecutors and Kercher’s family want to see Knox and Sollecito back in prison.

“We feel that Amanda and Raffaele are guilty and were in the room with Rudy Guede,” Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, said as he entered the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s supreme court, in Rome Monday.

Guede, an Ivory Coast drifter, has also been convicted in the 2007 murder and is serving a 16-year prison term.

Knox, a student at the University of Washington, was attentive to Monday’s hearing. Luciano Ghirga, a member of Knox’s legal team, said he heard from his client on Sunday.

“She is anxious. She is following the process very closely,” Ghirga said.

When asked if she would return to Italy, Ghirga said only, “She can come back anytime she wishes.”